APM Terminals Opens Vado Gateway

APM Terminals has confirmed that its new Vado Gateway terminal,
located in the Vado Ligure Port Complex, North Western Italy,
will be inaugurated on 12 December this year.

With the placement of the terminal's last caisson this week - an
important milestone in the build - the commercial team have been
actively engaging with the market. The launch commenced with an
event at the Genoa Aquarium last month.

Future services offered by the terminal were presented to key
managers from the main Maritime Companies and Shipping Houses
operating in the Italian market.

Once operational, the Vado Gateway Terminal will be fully
integrated with the existing Vado Ligure Reefer Terminal.

Vado Ligure will become the first semi-automated port in Italy
with a fully-automated gate and stacking yard. The 700m deep-sea
berth at Vado Gateway will be capable of handling the latest
Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) and up to 1.1 mln TEUs per
annum.

A new off-dock rail facility for both port terminals (4 lanes,
450m length) will provide rapid access to central and northern
Europe such as Switzerland, Germany and France, as well as
regions in Northern Italy, such as Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto and
Emilia-Romagna. The facility has the capacity for 14 trains per
day.

Over the coming month, the final Ship-to-Shore cranes will be
installed, and a range of tests will be carried out. Each of the
four cranes is over 90 meters in height and weighs in at around
1,800 tons. They have a horizontal reach of 23 rows of
containers, a maximum 65-ton capacity in twin lift configuration
and 100 tons 'under hook'.

The terminal will operate the most highly automated yard in Italy
using 14 Automatic Rail Mounted Gantry Cranes. The operator will
intervene from a remote-control room only when required. This
will enable the terminal to maintain the highest safety standards
in the industry as no one will be physically present in the yard
during container handling. Access to the automated forecourt will
only be possible for maintenance activities when the cranes are
non-operational.

Containers arriving at the Vado Gateway will be recorded using
dynamic video cameras installed on quay cranes (STS). These will
automatically send the information to the terminal's operating
system.

Last month, APM Terminal Vado Ligure replaced their existing
Terminal Operating System (TOS) with Navis 4, to support the Vado
Gateway Terminal as well as increasing the terminal's operational
efficiency. This highly advanced operating system is fully
integrated with all the other equipment and enables real-time
container tracking. This move also enables integration with the
other APM Terminals companies in the world.

Containers will be transported around the terminal using hybrid
Straddle Carriers. Operators will receive instructions directly
from the TOS. Exchange areas within the terminal are equipped
with cameras and sensors which, in the event of non-compliance
with safety regulations, will trigger an alarm mechanism and
block further operations.